


Trusted Companion

by StevetheIcecube



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Genre: (For Chapter 6), Angst and Fluff, Gen, Mor Ardain, Past Character Death, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-02-01
Packaged: 2019-03-12 10:34:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13545552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StevetheIcecube/pseuds/StevetheIcecube
Summary: (Spoilers for Chapter 6 of Xenoblade Chronicles 2)Mòrag returns to Mor Ardain with Aegaeon reawakened.





	Trusted Companion

After Aegaeon’s core crystal began glowing once more, Mòrag was initially hesitant. Aegaeon had always been her brother’s blade. They had always been similar in countenance, even when Aegaeon had been her uncle’s blade, and they got on so well. They were incredibly in sync and they always knew what the other wanted. Where Mòrag had been hotheaded and stubborn when she was younger (and she was sure Brighid would argue this was still the case), Aegaeon and Niall were always so calm and collected. They were a pair, and Mòrag wanted nothing more than to give the core crystal back to her brother and reunite him with his companion.

But each time she thought about it, she remembered the look in Niall’s eyes when he handed her the core crystal. His words about how he had failed to protect Aegaeon. Even though she could not bring herself to agree with his critical view of his own actions, she knew he was set in his decision and he would not take the blade back. She knew he had entrusted Aegaeon to her in the hope that he would never be confronted with Brighid’s lifeless core crystal in his hands.

She could feel the cool crystal pulsing in her hands as she held it, refusing for the moment to resonate with it. His core was so unlike Brighid’s, which had been warm to the touch from the very beginning. “I still don’t want to do it,” she said with a glance at Brighid, who was watching with an expectant look on her face.

“Either way, Lady Mòrag, you should try and make your mind up before we move on,” Brighid said. “I think you should. I understand your reservations, of course, but this is what His Majesty wants. Try and think of it that way.”

“I know,” she said with a sigh. She closed her eyes, raised the crystal over her heart, and felt the spirit inside move and connect with her own feelings. For a moment, she felt a rush of water come over her body, as if she’d just been submerged in a lake, and when she opened her eyes, Aegaeon was standing there.

For a moment, she didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t even meet his eyes. Seeing him looking at her in such a questioning way after everything that had happened...she had known him as her uncle’s blade and then as Niall’s. And Aegaeon was her blade now, but he didn’t remember a thing.

-

It started off awkward. Really awkward. Mòrag thought she was used to this kind of thing, but it turned out she really wasn’t. She had to explain her position to Aegaeon, and tell him about his status, and teach him all about the Empire all over again. Telling him about Niall was hard, especially because he was so curious but also so intense. Even though she tried to explain it to him again and again, he clearly blamed himself for the near-death of the Emperor, and there was nothing she could seem to say to stop him blaming himself. Usually, it just made her feel worse.

But she knew the worst was yet to come. Their travels took them all over Alrest, so naturally they occasionally came back to Mor Ardain. And more often than not, if they were in Mor Ardain, they’d stop at the capital, and then Mòrag would feel like she had to go to the palace and see Niall in case he heard she’d been in Alba Cavanich without seeing him. And going to see Niall meant that Aegaeon would want to come with her.

He was endlessly curious about Niall. He wanted to know all about his previous driver and the relationship they had. She knew it was natural, because everyone in their group had seen him before but he didn’t know them, and he had a recent history he couldn’t recall but everyone else knew, yet she still found it so uncomfortable. She didn’t want to be in the room while they saw each other again for the first time since everything had happened. She couldn’t imagine how Niall felt about all of this. He...hadn’t even seen Aegaeon since everything happened.

She spent a while trying to avoid it. Initially it was easy, because obviously they didn’t want their rather uncouth party to stay in the palace. But after the first night, Brighid suggested they go to see his Majesty. She managed to deflect the suggestion initially, running errands around the town and the wastes with the rest of the group, but by the end of their second day in Mor Ardain, all of that was gone, and she felt obliged to see her brother.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see him; in fact, she liked seeing him, and she knew that he liked checking up on her whenever she came home. It was both her duty and her pleasure to be able to tell him about everything she’d done and seen. She felt a little self-conscious, describing her travels to him when he had to sit inside and do paperwork and attend meetings the whole time, but he said he liked hearing it.

When she mentioned over breakfast that morning that she was going to go up to the palace to confer with His Majesty, Aegaeon immediately requested to come with her. He did it in such a way that betrayed his near desperation, and she just...couldn’t refuse. It gave her a lump in the back of her throat, thinking about having to see Niall’s face when he was confronted with what he perceived as his own failure, but she couldn’t say no to Aegaeon’s wishes either.

Making her way up to Hardhaigh Palace, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was making a mistake. Brighid and Aegaeon walked at her side and no one stopped her as she walked through the streets and the hallways of the palace. Only when she reached the lift to the throne room did anyone stop her. “Special Inquisitor Mòrag!” The man standing outside the lift called, standing to attention and saluting her. “His Majesty Emperor Niall is currently available if you wish to seek audience with him.”

“I do,” Mòrag said, nodding to him and passing to go into the lift. Brighid was unusually quiet and Aegaeon looked downright nervous, which was so out of character. Maybe they were picking up on her own nerves and tumultuous feelings about all of this.

At the other end of the hall, Mòrag saw Niall stand up as she entered the room. Still short as ever, she noticed with a small smile. For quite a while in years past she’d wondered when he would overtake her in height; now, it looked a little more like the correct question to ask was if he ever would.

“Your Majesty, I am come this morning to report-” She cut herself off when she saw Niall glancing at the single attendant in the room before he raced down the remaining length of the throne room and wrapped his arms around Aegaeon’s waist.

For a moment, no one moved. Brighid and Mòrag were stunned into a shocked silence and Aegaeon clearly didn’t know how to process what had just happened. He probably didn’t even know what Niall looked like until they’d walked into the room. And now he had a young man with his arms wrapped around him.

After a couple of seconds, Aegaeon looped one arm around Niall’s back, and then after a couple more seconds he moved the other too. Mòrag averted her eyes when she saw that Niall was shaking slightly. He probably didn’t want her to see him like this.

She felt awful now. She had taken her brother’s beloved companion away from him and hadn’t shown her face in front of him since she’d brought him back into the world. She couldn’t imagine how he felt, missing both her and Aegaeon. All of a sudden, she didn’t know what to say, even though she had a whole report prepared before now.

It took a minute or so, but Niall eventually let go of Aegaeon. As he pulled away, Aegaeon patted his shoulder. It was a surprisingly tender exchange for the pair, as even in the relative privacy of the throne room they had rarely even spoken to each other before. “Your Majesty,” he said, bowing to Niall as if the whole incident hadn’t even happened. “It is a pleasure to meet you once again.”

“Likewise, Aegaeon,” he said. He was smiling that soft, sad smile. Mòrag hated that she had seen the melancholy look so frequently that she recognised it so easily now. He didn’t deserve those kinds of sadnesses; he was still so young. “It puts my mind at ease to see you standing before me once more.”

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is inspired by a comment Aegaeon makes in a very lategame sidequest that Niall is "tiny and cute and cuddly". Got me thinking that he wouldn't be able to remember that if they hadn't hugged since he was reawakened.
> 
> If you've liked this or hated this, please leave a comment :) feedback means a lot.


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